Tensioning pulley



May 2, 1961 Filed Sept. 26, 1957 w. B. s. CAMERON ET AL 2,982,539

TENSIONING PULLEY 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS MEADE/V 5. 5. CHMEeO/x/ May 2, 1961 w. B. s. CAMERON ETAL 2,982,539

- TENsIoNING PULLEY INVENTORS )Kaze/95N 5. 5. CHMEeo/x/ :TDH/V. E M/ L/,q/wso/V May 2, 1961 w. B. s. CAMERON ETAL 2,982,539

TENSIONING PULLEY Filed Sept. 26, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS Mge/@EN 51 5. C/WfEO/n/ Tou/v E. MLLlH/wso/v BYMHMYM da.

TEisIsloNuvG PULLEY Warren B. S. Cameron, Hillsgrove, and John E. William-v This invention relates to cord tensioning devices, and morefparticularly to av tension pulleyv for drapery' rod.

dran/strings.

A primary object of our inventionI is to provide a tension pulley with'` means for convenienti mounting on a horizontal or Vertical plane, together with means for changing the direction ofthe pulley independently of the position of the base of the tensioning member. Another object of our invention is to provide means within a tension pulley for convenient and rapid assembly or disassembly while'still providing a mechanismv inwhich the operation is not hampered or obstructed in any way by virtue of its internal working parts.

In the accomplishment of` these and other objects of our invention in a preferred embodiment thereof, we

' employ a generally cylindrical' housing memberk pivotally connected to aA base plate which, in turn, is employed to mount the tension pulley on a xed base,v such. as a hoor or base molding adjacent to a window. The tension pulley is mounted on a shaft, which is, in turn, slidable within the housing, being urged inwardly thereof by a compression. spring insidev the housing.` It is a feature of our invention that the mounting of thepulley on the shaft is formed by bending. the shaft over double to ank each side of the pulley and includes a downwardly extending member spaced from the shaft by an amount sufficient to permit ready entrance of the cord member to the pulley. Y

Another feature of our invention relates tov means for fixingV the pulley so that it faces in oneV of several directions'.r This is accomplished by employing a cruciform opening in the housingfor receiving the pulley shaft, and by providing the pulley shaft with a portion of reduced dimension adjacent the pulley. Inv this way whenthe pulley shaft is withdrawn into the housing' to its fullestl extent, the portion of reduced dimension lies adjacent. to the cruciform opening, and since the reduced dimension is slightlysmaller than the smallest inside dimension ofthe cruciform opening, the pulley sh'aft may he rotated 90 to a new position at that time'.

An additional'feature of our invention relates to means for assembling and disassembling thev working parts of the device. In the preferred embodiment herein shown, this accomplished by means of a special tool member acting within the housing against a specially constructed stop member. The arrangementherein shown permits the parts to be assembled or disassembledv rapidly, either before or after the device has been secured to a' xe'd base. f

Further objectsuand features of 'our inventionk will best be understood and appreciated from aJ detailed' description of alpreferred'l embodiment thereof;y selected forl l ing 26- shown in Fig; l.

- opening 46 which permitsthestop member 42 tob'e`4 purposes"ofillnstration and shown inthe accompanying K drawingsfin which:

positions for a tension pulley'of ourinvention;

Figi i a. view in perspectiveshwingfour possible tions broken away to expose the interior of the tension device;

Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation showing in` dotted lines thel pulley extended under tensioning conditions;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged View in perspective of the cruciform opening for the pulley tensioning housing;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of` a tool employed to assemble the device;

Fig. 6 is a view in front elevation of the tool employed to assemble the device;

Fig. 7 is an exploded view of the parts ofthe tensioning device prior to assembly;

Fig. 8 is a view of the parts partially assembled; and

Fig. 9 is a view of the .parts nally assembled.

The preferred embodiment of our invention herein shown comprises a cylindrical housing 10 pivotally com nected to upstandingbracket arms 12 of a base plate 14 by means of a pin 16 which extends through one end of the housing 10. The base plate 14 is secured to a oor 18 or b ase molding 20 by conventional means, such as screws, nails or the like. lu Fig. 1 we have" shown the device in four separate positions which-generally illustrate the' various uses of the device. lt will be understood, however that the device permits ready application with regard to sloping surfaces as well as vertical surfaces running at right angles to the base mold.-A The device is employed as may be seen in Fig. l to tension cords 22, as for instance the drawstring cords of a drapery traverse rod. For thisl purpose a givenV cord 22 travels in a pulley 24 which is rotatably connectedl to the upper end of a shaft 26 by f means of a pntle 28. The upper end-of the shaft 26 is bent double to forman inverted U-element and the pintle 28 is secured across between the two downwardly extending legs of this U-element. At the base of the U-element a narrow space Sis provided to` permit ready entrance of the cord 22v to the pulley 24. Yi i kThe pulley 24 and the shaft '26 are maintained in agiven direction by means of a cruciform opening 32-at the upper end of thehousingrlil. The shaft 26 is sub, stantiallyfiat, and its marginaly edges tit into one of the two pairs of legs ofsaid cruciform opening32. Onthe other hand, the shaft 26 may` be rotated to carry the pulley 24 to a new position by virtue of a'portion 34 (see Fig. 7) of. reduced dimension in the shaft26 adjacent to the pulley 24. When the reduced portion 34 is adjacent to the' cruciform opening 32, the shaft 26 may be rotated within the housing 10; ln thisk way under norf mal conditions of tension, the shaft 26 vwill be pulled outwardly of the housing 10 to a slight degree, suchV that the marginal Vedges of the shaft 26 tit into the legs of the cruciform opening 32, thus preventing'rotation.` However, dropping the shaft26vfdown to the fully re-y tracted position permits a change in the direction of the pulley24. f l

The shaft 26 is urged inwardly ofthe housing rllllfatn all times by means of a compressionh spring 36 surrounding theshaftl. The spring 36 withink the housing 10` bears at its upper end against a cup-shaped waslier,A which, in turn, abuts the innerY walls of tlie cruciform, opening- E52V of the housing 1G. At its lowerl end .thev spring 36 abuts a similar, but inverted, cup-shaped washer 49 which is Yin turnheld in position on Yt shaft 26 by means cfa stop member 42 anchored by a- T-s'hapedportion 44 on the en'dof the shaft 3,6., The. i stop kmember 42 is provided with a transverse slotted` fitted' 'over the T-shaped portion y44. In addition, the stop member-Mis provided with a transversegr'oove` 4,8` running across the stop member 42 transverselyofl'the openingy 46.' T he groove 48r serves to anchor' theiaiisl of the T-s'haped portion `44 when fthestop' member 42 i `aanstaan has been inserted over the T-shaped portion 44 and rotated 90.

The assembly operation is carried out by means of a tool 50 shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The sequence of the assembly operation is shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. In this connection the shaft 26 carrying the pulley 24 is inserted into the cruciform opening 32 up into the housing 10. At this point the washer 38, which incidentally is provided with an opening to receive the shaft 26, is placed onto the shaft 26 and permitted to drop down into the housing 10, which may be regarded as in an inverted position shown in Fig. 7. Thereafter the spring 36 is dropped down onto the shaft 26, followed by the washer 40. Finally, the stop member 42 is placed onto the tool member 50 with the ears 52 of the tool member fitting into the groove 48 of the stop member 42. Thereafter the tool 50 is depressed carrying the spring 36, the washer 40, the stop member 42 down over the T-shaped member 44 at the end of the shaft 26. Once the T- shaped member 44 has passed through the opening 46 of the stop member 42, the tool 50 may be rotated as indicated in Fig. 9, thus positioning the groove 48 to receive the arms of the T-shaped member 44 which occurs when the tool member 50 is thereafter withdrawn.

With the arrangement herein shown, it will be understood that assembly and disassembly may be accomplished even after the pin 16 has been inserted in the end of the housing 10 simply by placing the tool member 50 in the end of the housing 10 and performing the rotating operation by turning the shaft 26 within the housing 10 while the shaft 26 is in position with its reduced dimension 34 adjacent to the cruciform opening 32. This feature is important in permitting repair or interchange of parts, such as installing a longer or shorter shaft 26 after the device has been secured to a iloor or wall without removing the same therefrom.

Since numerous minor variations of this preferred embodiment of our invention will now be apparent to those skilled in the art, it is not our intention to confine the invention to the precise form herein shown, but rather to limit it in terms of the appended claims.

Having thus described and disclosed a preferred embodiment of our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A tension pulley comprising a base plate for securing said pulley to a fixed base, a housing mounted on said base plate, a pulley shaft slidably mounted in said housing having a free end extending outwardly of said housing, a pulley mounted on said free end of said shaft, spring means in said housing for urging said shaft inwardly of said housing, said shaft being substantially flat in cross section, a substantially cruciform opening in said housing through which said free end of said shaft extends, and a portion of said shaft having a reduced dimension smaller than the narrowest inside dimension of said opening adjacent to said pulley whereby, when said shaft is fully withdrawn into said housing, said reduced portion lies adjacent to said opening and said shaft may be rotated to change the direction of said pulley.

2. The tension pulley defined in claim l further characterized by a mounting for said pulley on said shaft comprising a portion of said shaft bent double into an inverted U-shape, a pintle for said pulley extending between the legs of said U, and the lower ends of the legs of said U defining between them a narrow slot for receiving a draw cord.

3. A tension pulley comprising a housing, means for mounting said housing on a fixed base, a cruciform opening at one end of said housing having pairs of legs at substantially right angles to each other, a substantially fiat shaft slidable in said opening with its marginal edges lying within one said pair of legs, a pulley mounted on said shaft outwardly of said opening, spring means in said housing for biasing said shaft inwardly of said housing, and a portion of said shaft having a reduced cross sec- 4 tional dimension smaller than the narrowest inside di mension of said opening whereby adjusting said shaft to a position in which said reduced portion lies adjacent to said cruciform opening permits rotation of said shaft to a new position within said opening.

4. A tension pulley comprising a housing, means for mounting said housing on a fixed base, a shaft slidable in said housing and having an end extending outwardly from said housing through an opening therein, a coil spring on said shaft within said housing for urging said shaft inwardly of said housing, a washer on said shaft at each end of said spring, one said washer abutting said housing adjacent said opening, a T-shaped member on said shaft within said housing, a stop' member abutting said T-shaped member on said shaft, a central slotted opening in said stop member for receiving said T-shaped member on said shaft, a transverse groove on said stop member extending across said stop member in a direction generally normal to said slotted opening, said stop member on said shaft, said T-shaped member resting in said groove on said stop member, and said other washer abutting said stop member with said spring exerting compression against said washers, stop member and T-shaped member, and hence urging said shaft inwardly of said housing.

5. The tension pulley defined in claim 4 further characterized by said opening being cruciform, said shaft being substantially flat and having marginal edges tting into a pair of legs of said opening, and a portion of said shaft having a reduced dimension in which said shaft edges are free of said legs of said opening whereby said shaft may be rotated in said housing when said reduced dimension portion is adjacent to said opening.

6. A tension pulley comprising a housing, a shaft slidably mounted in said housing, spring means urging said shaft inwardly of said housing, a pulley mounted on said shaft, stop means mounted on said shaft for causing said spring to exert a force on said shaft longitudinally of said shaft, means for releasing said stop means from said shaft by turning said stop means relative to said shaft, and means for holding said shaft against rotation within said housing while in one position without so limiting said shaft while in another position whereby said stop means may be inserted or released by rotation of said stop means or said shaft.

7. A pulley ho1d-down for traverse rod installations comprising an elongated hollow tubular housing, a pivoted base portion secured to one end of said housing for fastening said housing to a support, a at elongated rod slidably received in said housing having a portion extending outwardly therefrom at the opposite end from said base portion, said opposite end of said housing being provided with a central opening so constructed and arranged as to provide at least two ways therein, each way being of a size and configuration to confine said rod against lateral and turning movement, a reduced section in said rod intermediate its length and being of a smaller dimension than the inner dimenson of said central opening, whereby said rod may be positioned with said reduced section adjacent said central opening and turned out of alignment from one way and into alignment with an alternate way, resilient means for continually urging said rod toward said base end, and a pulley mounted on the outwardly extending end of said rod for receiving a drapery operating cord.

8. A pulley hold-down as set forth in claim 7 wherein said reduced section of said rod terminates in a hook.

9. A pulley hold-down for traverse rod installations comprising, an elongatedehollow tubular housing, a pivoted base secured to one end of said housing for fasten ing Vsaid housing to a support, a at elongated rod slidably received in said housing having a portion extending outwardly therefrom at the opposite endy from saidbase portion,a reduced section in said rod intermediate its` length, resilient means for continually urging said rod toward said base, and a pulley mounted on the outf wardly extending end of Vsaid rod for receiving a drapery operating cord.

10. A pulley hold-down as set forth in claim 9 wherein the opposite end of said tubular housing is provided with at least two ways each of a size and conguration to confine said rod against lateral movement.

References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 55,344 Nell June 5, 1866 

